G.K. Butterfield Jr. learned politics at his father’s knee. The elder Butterfield in 1953 became the first African American elected to City Council in Wilson, N.C. But a few years later, the council changed election rules while the Butterfields were out of town, making it so Butterfield Sr. couldn’t win reelection without significant support from white voters. He lost.
The episode taught his son about both the promise of politics and the risk of revanchism. It’s what eventually led him to Congress.
Butterfield felt the past repeating itself last year, after Republican state lawmakers drew a congressional district map that put him in a tough race. He announced his retirement in November. Since then, courts tossed the gerrymandered maps, but Butterfield is still leaving, with plans to write a book. The topic? History, of course.
